The Heir of Hufflepuff
by The Emmanator
Summary: Zacharias Smith can easily be divided up into the significant events in his own life.
1. Part 1, Bit 1

This is my new Zacharias-centric fic, yay! Zacharias Smith is a pretty cool character, you know? Okay, the way I'm telling this is in parts. There will be 4-5 big parts, each will be divided into bits. Each "part", while coming together with other parts, is its own miniplot in the overall life of Zacharias Smith. Some of the "bits" (the chapters within each part) are short, some are long. It could honestly read like a set of oneshots if you wanted it to.

General notes: In this piece, Zacharias is one year **older **than Harry, Ron and Hermione. He's in Cho Chang's year. It was just a personal preference, as we are never outright told what year he's in, and in my mind, he's either a year above Harry or in Ginny's year, most people lean towards him being in Ginny's year, but for the purposes of this piece, he's in the year above Harry. There will be multiple pairings. All of them are just cracktastic.

* * *

The Heir of Hufflepuff

**Part 1**: A Great Hufflepuff Someday

_Bit 1_: Dead and Gone

* * *

The Healer said something to Mr. Smith that Zacharias didn't hear; he was too busy talking to an old man in a portrait to listen. 

"Come on, Zach, we're leaving," Mr. Smith said.

Ten year old Zacharias Smith looked up at his father and nodded, following fast alongside him. "Is Mum coming home today?" he asked.

Mr. Smith looked down at his only son, frowning. "No, I'm sorry. Mum had to go away, Zacharias," he lied reasonably. How would a ten-year-old understand death, anyway? He would have to explain it fully later.

"Is she ever coming back?"

"I'm afraid not," he said, turning around the corner and walking down the London sidewalk. "Walk a little faster, okay? If you get lost in the middle of London, it's your fault," he chided.

The ride on the underground was noisy and Zacharias thought his seat was lumpy.

They finally arrived back at the countryside mansion.

"Dad, I'm still going to be able to go to Hogwarts, even if I don't have a mum, right?" Zacharias asked his father abruptly.

"They'll still let you in, you're related to Helga Hufflepuff," Mr. Smith said.

"That was just a bedtime story, Dad, I don't fall for that kind of stuff anymore."

"It is not just a bedtime story," he chuckled, opening a drawer and pulling out an ancient looking scroll. "See? Here's our family tree," he said, flattening the old scroll across the table. "See there's you, me and your mother, my parents, my grandparents and my Great-Aunt Hepzibah, see? Keep following her and your Great-Great Grandfather's lines and look, traced right back to Helga Hufflepuff," he explained, pointing to the very top of the old parchment.

"Who is Mum descended from?" he asked.

"No one as important as Helga Hufflepuff," Mr. Smith answered haughtily.

Zacharias stared at the old worn in parchment as his father rolled it back up and sealed it. He looked up at his father.

"You'll be a great Hufflepuff someday," Mr. Smith said. "The best since I was there."

* * *


	2. Part 1, Bit 2

A/N: Back again. This is the halfway point of this first part. Yay! Hope you like! Review if you would, please.

* * *

The Heir of Hufflepuff

Part 1: A Great Hufflepuff Someday

Bit 2: Diagon Alley

* * *

"Okay, Zacharias. It's time to go get your wand," Mr. Smith said, pointing at Ollivander's. "Then we'll get your pet for school…"

He nodded and hurried ahead into Ollivander's. There was a girl, about his age, in there talking to Mr. Ollivander. She was with her mother, and was very short, but pretty. She looked around at him when he entered and smiled.

"Are you going to Hogwarts too?" she asked.

He nodded. "Who are you?"

"I'm Cho, Cho Chang," she said, extending a hand. "I'm going to be in Ravenclaw, like my mom," she said.

"I'm Zacharias Smith," he said, drawing himself up importantly. "I'm going to be in Hufflepuff," he replied.

"How do you know?" she asked.

He looked around; his father was sitting in a lone chair by the door. "Because my whole family has been in Hufflepuff, we're distantly descended."

Cho looked surprised. "Wow…" then she paused. "Do you play Quidditch?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm going to be a Chaser."

"I play Seeker, myself," she replied. "Maybe we'll play against each other when we get to Hogwarts."

He nodded. Mrs. Chang brushed her daughter from the shop after finishing talking to Mr. Ollivander. Cho waved good-bye and he returned the gesture.

"Ah, Adam Smith! Good to see you again, it's been twenty years or more. Hmm, thirteen, cherry with a dragon heartstring, rather flexible, if I'm not mistaken?"

"And still in perfect condition," Mr. Smith replied. "Just coming to get my boy's first wand."

Mr. Ollivander acknowledged Zacharias with his pale eyes. "Well, don't be shy boy, come here!" he said.

Zacharias walked over and Mr. Ollivander went to a large shelf, pulling out a small thin box. "Try this, it's a bit like your father's, fourteen and a half, beech, dragon heartstring and not too stiff, give it a try," he said.

He frowned, waving the wand a little. "Not suiting? Well, maybe you fancy something a bit closer to your mother's…" he muttered. "Ah, try this one, cherry, a nice solid twelve, phoenix tail-feather, stiff," he said, thrusting another box into Zacharias' hands.

When he waved the wand, bright yellow sparks shot out everywhere.

"Ah, very nice! This wand will do you very well, I think," he told Zacharias, replacing the wand in its box and handing it to him. Zacharias' father rose to pay.

After they left Ollivander's, they walked over to the Magical Menagerie. "Are you sure you don't want an owl?" he asked, pointing to the Owl Emporium.

"I'd rather have a cat. If you need to write to me so badly, you have your owl."

Zacharias looked over the number of interesting animals in the shop. Finally, he saw a small pen containing a number of small kittens and walked over to him. Most of the kittens stopped playing and walked over to look up at him curiously; one kitten looked over at him but remained at the far end of the pen, like he wasn't interested in going over to greet the potential owner.

"I want that one," he said, pointing to the one kitten that had refused to move from its spot.

"Of course, just like you to want the one that ignores you. That's going to get you _nowhere _when you start dating, son, but alright."

He got a basket for the small gray kitten and carried him out. They returned home and he carried the little cat up to his room. He sat down on his bed and held the little cat up. It mewled in protest and tried to bat him with his paws. "So you're a boy. Hm…and you have yellow eyes," he added. He set the kitten back down on his bed. "Oh, forget it, I'll just call you Cat," he said, stroking the little cat's fur.

* * *


	3. Part 1, Bit 3

This is the last bit to part one, the next part is going to skip ahead quite a bit, but it will be the Triwizard Tournament era. I skipped ahead so much because other than basically telling the other three books from Zacharias and the Hufflepuffs point-of-view, there was nothing I could think to do. So be looking out for Part 2: The Rise of Marietta Edgecomb/The Triwizard Tournament.

* * *

The Heir of Hufflepuff

Part 1: A Great Hufflepuff Someday

Bit 3: The First Voyage To Hogwarts

* * *

"Okay, bye then," he said, waving to his father as he boarded the scarlet steam engine, dragging his trunk and trying to hold onto Cat's basket at the same time.

"Do you need help?" someone asked.

Zacharias looked up and saw a boy maybe a year older than himself, coming out of a compartment. "No, I'm fine."

"Well, this compartment's practically empty," he said, pointing to the compartment he had just walked out of.

Zacharias nodded and followed him into the compartment. The older boy helped him put his trunk somewhere (even though he didn't ask him to) and introduced himself.

"I'm Cedric Diggory," he said, extending a hand and smiling.

"Zacharias Smith," he replied.

"So you're a first year?" Cedric asked. "What house do you want to be in?"

"I'm going to be in Hufflepuff," Zacharias answered automatically, it hadn't registered to him that the question was a bit different from the answer.

"Oh, I'm a Hufflepuff myself," Cedric said, indicating to a black-and-yellow tie hanging out of his trunk.

Zacharias smiled a little, relaxing.

"Uhm, hi, are these seats empty? Everywhere is taken…" a small girl asked. It was the same girl Zacharias had met at Ollivander's, accompanied by a girl with curly reddish hair.

"Yeah, of course," Cedric spoke up kindly.

Cho nodded and gestured for her friend to follow. They drug their trunks into the compartment and following Cedric's lead, Zacharias and Cedric helped them put their trunks up.

"Hey Diggory, why are you surrounded by first years?" a voice asked from the still-ajar door, two perfectly identical redheaded twins popped their heads in.

"All the other compartments were full," he replied simply. "What are you doing wondering around the corridors?"

"Looking for Percy, actually."

"Why are you looking for your brother?" Cedric asked.

The twins exchanged looks. "That is a matter of secrecy, Mr. Diggory. But another point of interest, you're trying out for your house team this year, aren't you?"

He nodded. "I suppose you two are as well?"

"You know us so well, we're trying for Beaters. Seeker, for you of course?" the twin on the left asked.

Cedric nodded again. "If I can make it."

The twins shrugged. "Alright Diggory, we won't flatten you too bad in our first match," one said as they waved goodbye and shut the compartment door.

"Who were they?" Cho asked curiously.

"Fred and George Weasley," he said. "Gryffindors. The whole Weasley family, from what I've heard from my father, is in Gryffindor house."

"That must be common," Cho piped up. "Both of my parents were in Ravenclaw," she said. "Wasn't your mother and father in Ravenclaw too, Marietta?"

"I think my Dad was in Slytherin, actually," the girl, Marietta, answered. "Mum never really talks about him; he was killed by Death Eaters."

"Oooh…" Cho said, looking embarrassed.

"So, you play Quidditch?" Zacharias asked Cedric, changing topics quickly. The subject of parents could lead nowhere good.

"Yeah, I play Seeker," he said. "Well, my Dad says I should play Seeker, and it is a position I'd like to play," he said. "My dad taught me Quidditch really early on," he added.

"Mine too, but I prefer Chaser," he said. "My dad was a good Chaser in his day," he said. "Why can't first years have their own brooms?"

Cedric shrugged. "Mostly because they don't try out for house teams until at least second year or because they're so inexperienced. Madam Hooch prefers it that way, I guess. Madam Hooch is the flying instructor, she's also a top-notch referee," he explained.

"Are the professors mean or scary?" Cho asked, sounding anxious.

"Well, some of them can be. Professor McGonagall, she teaches Transfiguration, she's Head of Gryffindor house, she's tough but I like her a lot. She's really fair, and a great teacher," Cedric said, twirling his wand over his fingers. "Professor Snape, he's the Potions professor, favors his house above all. His house is Slytherin," he added. "He's mostly mean to the Gryffindors but he's not one to cross. He's the meanest of all the professors, of the ones that I've had so far."

Both of the girls looked relieved.

"We should change into our robes," Cedric said as he noticed the sky darkening a while later. "We'll just, step out while you girls put yours on," he said, gesturing for Zacharias to follow him out into the corridor.

"Are you nervous?" Cedric asked.

He shook his head, trying to look confident. "I'm not nervous, it won't be that bad."

The girls stepped out into the corridor, wearing their long black robes. "If you'd like, we'll stand out here, as not to offend your delicate boy modesty," Marietta teased, and she and Cho broke into a fresh storm of giggles.

Zacharias narrowed his eyes, but closed the compartment door behind him. It didn't take them as long as it had taken the girls to put on their robes. The girls stepped back in and the compartment fell silent for the rest of the journey.

The train finally came to a stop; he stepped out onto the platform. It wasn't a very warm night, but it wasn't cold. He heard a low, gruff voice calling out "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"

He, Cho and Marietta followed the voice, waving goodbye to Cedric. When they saw the man that was calling first years in a better light, the girls looked a little frightened. He was twice as tall as the average grown man, with wild black hair that nearly obscured his entire face. When the man saw that all of the first years had gathered around him, he led them to a small fleet of boats at the edge of a vast black lake.

"This is how ya are gettin' ta Hogwarts, no more than four to a boat. C'mon, don' be shy," he said, settling into a boat near the front. Zacharias got in a little boat, and Cho and Marietta followed him in, a dark haired girl joined them shortly afterwards.

"I'm Katie, Katie Bell," she said.

They muttered their hellos, watching the huge man, and then the boats took off through the huge black lake. They came around a corner and there it was, perched on a huge cliff, little windows making patches of light against the dark shape. Hogwarts Castle.

When they got up to the doors, the giant man knocked loudly three times, after a moment, the doors swung open and the first years were hurried inside the huge Entrance Hall. The person that had opened the doors turned out to be a very severe looking woman with a tight black bun and emerald green robes. She gave off the distinctive air of a very tough woman.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said briskly. "Wait here for a moment, I will return and lead you into the Great Hall for your Sorting," she added shortly.

They waited for a while, Zacharias wondered if the woman had forgotten about them. But she returned, leading the first years through another set of huge wooden doors.

"Line up, please," she said. They formed a lopsided almost-single-file-line, craning their necks to see what was placed before them.

"What's with the stupid hat?" someone asked.

"It's the Sorting Hat," a girl replied.

The tough woman got out a long scroll, and unfurled it.

She called a couple of people. The first boy was sorted into Ravenclaw, the next into Slytherin.

"Bell, Katie," she called. The girl that had sat on the boat with him went forward, looking nervous. The hat plopped down on her head and sat there for maybe ten seconds, before declaring her a Gryffindor.

Cho Chang went up a few people later and was declared a Ravenclaw the second the Sorting Hat touched her hair. A few more people, including two Slytherins, another Gryffindor and a new Hufflepuff went, and then Cho's curly-haired friend Marietta was called.

The Hat stayed silent for a nearly a minute.

"Ravenclaw!" it shouted at last.

More and more people were called, until finally…

"Smith, Zacharias!" the woman shouted. He walked up to the little stool and sat down, the hat hit his head and he heard a voice in his ear.

"_Well, you are a little bundle of something…" _the voice in his head said. "_I see a desire to know, I see very many questions…but I can see the honesty and diligence. You want to stand out, be different…don't you?" _the voice said. _"I have it."_

"Hufflepuff!" the Hat finally shouted.

He pulled the hat off of his head and walked towards the Hufflepuff table, taking an empty seat across from Cedric and beside a boy wearing a silver badge.

"That was nerve wracking," he admitted.

"It can be, where else did it consider putting you?"

"I think it wanted to put me in Ravenclaw," he said.

Albus Dumbledore (Zacharias recognized him from his Chocolate Frog card) stood, his long white hair gleaming in the candlelight.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Well, that's about it. Dig in," he said, sitting back down.

"He always saves his proper speech for after the feasts," a cheerful voice said when Zacharias looked up questioningly.

He looked at the person that had spoken; it was the ghost of a fat, jolly looking old man.

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself, I'm the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff ghost," he told the confused first years. "There are many ghosts here; each House has their own ghost as well. The ghost of someone who had been in their house hundreds of years ago, who remained behind, and we are sometimes of good use to our students, we are always enthused to help."

Zacharias had just noticed the food, and was aware of how hungry he was. He started piling things on his plate.

After he had finished everything he could eat, including a generous desert, he sat back. The headmaster stood again, his eyes roaming the large hall.

"As I was saying before hunger so rudely interrupted," he started, chuckling at his own joke. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I must remind the new faces…and some of the older ones…that the Forbidden Forest is, well obviously, forbidden to students. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to remind you all that no magic is to be done in the corridors, also there is an extensive list of banned items fastened to his office door if the curiosity so strikes you. He also begs each and every one of you to wipe your feet before coming back into the castle from the rain. Third years and above are allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade on select weekends, if any younger students are caught trying to sneak into the village, they will be punished. But, I see that time has made fools of us! Run along to bed now, your lessons are first thing after breakfast," he said, sitting back down as, with a loud scraping of benches, all of the students began filing out.

The boy in the silver badge that he had sat beside during dinner led them down some stairs and through a hidden corridor, until they were met with a large stretch of brick wall next to several paintings.

"Comfort," the boy said, the wall swung open, leading into a large comfortably furnished common room. A fire was crackling merrily and there were a few older students already sitting in some cozy black armchairs.

"Boys up that way," he said pointing to a staircase on the left side of the room, "and girls up that way," he said, pointing at the opposite end side of the room. "Welcome to Hufflepuff," he added as he started up the stairs towards the boys dormitory.

Zacharias followed the stairs until he found a door that had a glossy gold plate that read "First Years". He went inside and looked around; he spotted his trunk at the foot of a large bed in the very corner of the room. He was so full of food and tired; he fell into bed without even changing into his pajamas and was asleep by the time the other first year boys had made their way up.


	4. Part 2, Bit 1

Ah, the Quidditch World Cup, this should be fun…

I'm thinking that the new Part Title can give away the general point of this part (which is much longer than the first part)

* * *

Part 2: The Triwizard Tournament/the Rise of Marietta Edgecomb

Bit 1: The Quidditch World Cup

* * *

"Zach!" someone called from behind where he was standing. He whipped around and saw Cedric Diggory walking up to him.

Zacharias was approaching his fifth year at Hogwarts; he was much taller than he had been when he had first met Cedric on his first train ride to Hogwarts.

"Hey, alright then, Ced?" Zacharias said, smiling slightly. Cedric Diggory seemed to get better looking by the second, and Zacharias was happy for the company, his father had run off to find Ludo Bagman and make a few bets on the match.

"Yeah, just got here a few minutes ago," he said, looking around at the misty morning.

"I've been stuck here all night," Zacharias said. "You want some breakfast or anything?" he said, looking back at his tent (which was strangely lopsided compared to the others around it).

Cedric laughed a little. "What happened to your tent?"

He scowled. "I was having some trouble with that stupid charm you can use to erect tents, so it came out a little lopsided, it's fine on the inside," he added grumpily.

They went inside; the inside of the tent was disproportionately large. It looked like a small, badly furnished cottage. They sat down in some mismatched, lumpy chairs near a small oven.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Cedric asked.

Zacharias shook his head. "No, I'm betting they arrived this morning like you," he said.

"You're sharing this tent with your dad?"

He laughed at Cedric's question. "No, my dad has his own bloody tent."

"Cedric? Zacharias?" someone called from outside the tent. Cedric got up, stooping down and peering out the tent.

"Ernie!" Cedric said delightedly.

"Hey Cedric," Ernie said, walking inside the tent. "Nice set up Zach," he said, looking over at Zacharias.

Zacharias nodded.

Ernie pulled up a chair next to the pair of them. Ernie was a year younger than Zacharias, and two years younger than Cedric, but they liked him well enough. He was quite pompous at times, but he meant well for the most part.

"No Hannah?" Cedric asked, looking around as if he expected Hannah to appear in the middle of the tent.

"She couldn't get tickets," Ernie said, looking a little disappointed. Ernie and Hannah were inseparable, Ernie always claimed, when accused, in a very loud voice, that they were just friends.

"Seen anyone else?" Zacharias asked.

"I saw Harry Potter and his friends. Oliver Wood, Gryffindor's old Quidditch captain, was in my campsite. I think I saw Cho and that one friend of hers somewhere. Most of Gryffindor house is here, I saw Seamus and Dean in a tent that looked like it was made out of shamrocks…"

Zacharias snorted. "Anybody want some food or something?" he asked, looking around the tent.

"Yeah sure," Cedric said.

"Yes," Ernie said.

Zacharias shuffled through cabinets and his own bag, a few minutes later each of them had a cup of tea and some sausage.

"The Ministry is trying to make sure people cook like Muggles camping," Zacharias noted, turning off the oven. "But I don't really feel like making a fire," he added.

Ernie swallowed his bit of sausage. "You should be more careful, though," he said importantly.

He shrugged.

"Hello!" a cheerful voice said as a short, very pretty Asian girl stooped down and stepped into the tent, followed by a taller girl with curly red-blond hair. The Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang, and her fellow Ravenclaw Marietta Edgecomb walked over to where the three of them were sitting. Cedric swallowed very fast and nearly choked on his sausage.

"How'd you find us?" Zacharias asked suspiciously.

"The plaque outside your tent," Marietta replied coldly. "And we heard you guys talking."

They got chairs and joined the three guys.

"Who do you think will win?" Cho asked them.

"Ireland," Cedric said first.

"I'll give you five Galleons if Ireland wins," Zacharias laughed.

Cedric smiled. "I'll give you five Galleons if Bulgaria wins," he retorted confidently. They shook hands. "You're going to owe me," he added.

Ernie spoke up. "I'm quite confident in Ireland, Zacharias, maybe you should reconsider," he said in a very pompous, carrying voice.

"Bulgaria has Krum," Zacharias pointed out. "He's the best Seeker in the world."

"Unless they catch the Snitch the second the game starts, that's irrelevant, Ireland's Chasers are practically unbeatable," Cho pointed out.

Marietta looked grumpy, and bored by the proceedings. She wasn't the biggest fan of Quidditch, she crossed her legs and started tapping her foot.

They had a long discussion about Quidditch, arguing about who would win and which players were more talented. Finally a siren sounded.

"This is it," Cedric said excitedly.

"I'll find you after the match and collect my winnings," Zacharias told him, punching him in the shoulder.

"More like to give me mine," Cedric laughed, punching him back.

They laughed and separated to find their respective parents. He found his father talking to a Ministry official he didn't know, nor did he care to know. "Ah, well this is my son Zacharias," he said to the man, who was very badly disguised as a Muggle. "He's about to start his fifth year at Hogwarts," he added. "Well, I must be off."

They found their seats; they were about halfway up the giant gold stadium, somewhere in between the green-clad Ireland supporters and the red-clad Bulgaria supporters.

"Veela," his father remarked as the Bulgarian mascot entered the field.

Zacharias blinked. His head felt empty (which was a nice change because normally it never stopped) and he stared at the Veela.

Was it human? Probably not. But that didn't bother him, because Veela, it turns out, were extremely beautiful.

He felt someone smack him in the back of the head lightly, and he came back to his senses. "Don't get distracted," his father said. "The match is much more interesting."

His father was right, the match was much more interesting.

"Ced!" he called, finding Cedric on the way back to his tent with his father.

Cedric turned and smiled. "Pay up then, Zach?"

Zacharias nodded, pulling some gold out of his pocket and handing it to Cedric. "Next year, I'm winning the bets," he muttered.

"Not likely," Cedric said, laughing. "See you later, then," he added, hurrying to catch up with his father.

Zacharias returned to his tent. He could hear the Irish celebrating off in the distance, but he was more concerned with getting some sleep…

"Zacharias," he heard someone hiss after what seemed like seconds of sleep. "Zacharias, you need to get out of here."

He opened his eyes and saw his father standing at the flap of his tent, holding his wand. "Did you hear me? Get up and leave! Go into the woods, I'll come find you later."

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" Zacharias asked, he could hear bangs and screams in the distance.

"Death Eaters, go!" his father snapped.

Zacharias nodded and left the tent quickly. He looked around and headed in the direction of the woods.

"Zach!" he heard someone call. He turned quickly and saw Cedric hurrying up to him. "What's going on?" he asked as they rushed into the woods.

"I have no bloody idea," Zacharias muttered.

"Have you seen Cho?" a girl's voice asked behind them. They turned and saw a tearful Marietta Edgecomb running towards them. "I lost Cho in the crowd!"

"I'm sure she'll know to get through the woods," Cedric said as they continued walking. They finally got to the other side of the wood, where it seemed all of the underage wizards and witches had hidden, along with mothers with toddlers. They sat down under a large tree, looking around for any sign of Cho or anyone else they knew.

"Hey guys," Ernie said, joining them. "What do you thinks going on?"

"Dad says it was Death Eaters," Zacharias said, looking back towards where they could still hear shouts and bangs. "But Who-Know-Who's out of commission, why would Death Eaters show up?" he said skeptically. "It's probably just some drunken idiots."

After a few minutes of tense silence, there were gasps and screams all around the woods.

"Oh my G- look!" Cedric said, pointing up over the tops of the trees. Zacharias looked up.

"It's the Dark Mark!" Marietta groaned, standing up. They all stood; there was panic all over the woods.

They heard movement behind them and turned quickly; they saw a woman larger than any they had ever seen. She was talking in rapid French to a large group of kids maybe their age, and ushering them into a group.

They didn't have time to make heads or tails of this when a group of Ministry wizards ran out of the woods.

"Dad! Dad what's going on?" Cedric called, seeing his father emerging in the group. Amos Diggory turned to someone and pointed at their group, he and Zacharias' father hurried up to the four of them.

"Someone cast the Dark Mark," Amos said. "With Harry Potter's wand, the only thing we found at the scene was Barty Crouch's house elf, so whoever cast it Apparated almost instantly. No one is hurt or anything," he said.

* * *


End file.
